Texas Rangers Blog

Cliff Lee: ‘I know I’ve enjoyed it here and I’m never ruling out the possibility of coming back’

On the Renteria home run: I got behind 2-0, threw a cutter that was up, and he hit a home run. You’ve got to give the guy credit, he put a good swing on it.

On whether he considered pitching around Renteria: I was just trying to throw him a strike on the first and second pitch and I don’t want to walk anyone. He put a good swing on it, that’s that. You’ve got to give him credit.

On getting to the World Series twice in a row without winning one: Just to get an opportunity to be in the World Series, you’ve got to feel good about it. I mean, obviously, you want to win it, but I came as close as you get two years in a row without getting it. I’ll just use that as motivation going into the offseason, doing everything I can to get back and try to do what they just did.

On whether he expected a World Series run out of the Rangers: I don’t know, it didn’t take me long to realize this was a very good group of guys, unbelievable talent all over the place, and within a week or so I had a feeling that this was going to be a special year for us. It was a fun run.

On whether he lost his command against Renteria: I didn’t lose it, I threw him three pitches. I missed with the first two and threw the third one for a strike, and he hit a homer. That’s that. It’s the way it goes.

On how he separates the emotions he’s feeling with the business decisions he’ll make in the offseason: I don’t know, I’m not thinking too much about the business decisions right now to be honest with you. I’m more thinking about how much fun it was with these guys, and how much I enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to getting home with my family and relaxing. That’s it. That’s going to take care of itself later, but right now I’m not too concerned with it.

On what he’s thinking about the offseason: I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve been a free agent and I’m going to see what that’s all about. It’s an earned right by a player once you get six-plus years, and I’m going to take advantage of that and see where it leads me. I know I’ve enjoyed it here and I’m never ruling out the possibility of coming back, but I’ve got to play things out and see how it goes. I know this was a great group of guys, a lot of fun, and I would love to be apart of it next year, but there’s so many things that could happen, you never know. There’s a lot of things I’ve got to weigh into that. There’s a lot of variables, what’s best for my family, that’s going to be a huge part of it. I want to be on a winning team. Obviously, this is one of those. We’ll see, there’s no telling what’s going to happen.

On whether he ever considers the intentional walk: Yeah, for sure, but I didn’t feel like that was one of them. I didn’t really want to load the bases right there. Obviously, I would’ve liked to have made a better quality pitch 2-0 right there, but he put a good swing on it. You’ve got to tip your hat to the guy. It was a big at bat, big point in the game, and he hit a home run. You’ve got to give him credit. That’s baseball.

On whether he thought Renteria’s ball was gone off the bat: I wasn’t sure. I knew he hit it pretty good, but he definitely got it. It was a homer.

On whether he had blood on his hand while pitching: Yeah, I had a little blister on my finger, but it is what it is. I’ve dealt with it the past couple outings, but it is what it is. Stuff like that happens over the course of a season, and it’s not an excuse. It’s not the reason why I gave up the home run. That had nothing to do with it. They beat us. Lincecum pitched an unbelievable game, Renteria hitting that home run was huge for them. If I could go back in time and make a different pitch, I would, but I can’t do that.